Barcelona FC: Classless or Misunderstood?

Barcelona have come under a lot of stick in the English media of late. Their playacting on the field has enraged commentators who feel that they can do without the antics and yet win comfortably. But are we judging them by English standards of ethics and morality? What can be the reason behind this bewildering mixture of beauty and knavery?

Culture Clash

Barcelona is a city in Catalonia, Spain – and they share a lot of cultural traits with Latin America and countries like Italy, that enjoy the warm climate of Europe. Historically, these nations have developed an image of being easy going and informal as opposed to the industrious and apparently uptight Britishers.

This image has been reinforced by their respective attitudes towards footballing incidents, both on and off the pitch.

When the John Terry scandal broke out in England, the Chelsea Center Back was universally (i.e. by the English press) criticized and due sympathy was provided to Wayne Bridge. In countries like Italy and Spain, however, John Terry was considered a hero and a ‘real man’, who had made a legitimate ‘conquest’ (doesn’t matter if it was at the expense of Bridge).

The same contrast exists in the views on diving in football. While the English vehemently oppose diving (but do it anyway), it is an acceptable form of trickery in Southern Europe and South America.

Barcelona’s Hypocrisy

Juvenile by any standards: Puyol and Pique ransacking Arsenal property

Such differences in culture are well known to the English media, pundits and commentators. However, there is something specific about Barcelona that serves to highlight their devious ways.

Barcelona Football Club reeks of hypocrisy. “Més que un club (More than a club)” is their motto. This along with their regular boasting about fan ownership and (until this season) UNICEF’s logo on their shirt indicates that they portray themselves as a club of lofty ideals.

Barcelona fans blame Real Madrid of trying to buy their trophies. While that may be true, Barca dont shy away from big, and sometimes wreckless, spending either. Zlatan Ibrahimovic and David Villa come to mind. At least one of these two was a luxury.

The classless and hypocritical pursuit of Cesc Fabregas hit a new low this week, when Puyol and Pique stole a picture of Fabregas from Arsenal‘s London Colney training ground (which Arsenal were decent enough to offer to Barcelona for practice) and posted this image on their Twitter accounts.

Representatives of Catalonia?

Robin Hoods of Catalonia?

Historically, the Nou Camp has been a hotbed of Spanish regional politics. At one point in time, Franco (who incidentally, favoured Real Madrid) had banned the speaking of the Catalan language and the only place it could be safely used was at the Nou Camp, during matches.

As a result, many hardcore nationalists in Catalonia, view FC Barcelona as their national team. Pep Guardiola himself has slyly implied that Barcelona is a national team of the Catalans. There is a definite political tension festering under the surface in the football team and it has occasionally spilled over into some ugly incidents. Here too, there is hypocrisy. While Barcelona portray themselves as the Robin Hoods of Catalonia, fighting against the evil and oppressive Madrid, they have no qualms about one of their players shouting “Mono, mono, mono”(monkey) at opposition players of African origin. Robin Hoods indeed.

While the ‘Us vs Them’ style siege mentality is used to good effect by many football teams, one feels that FC Barcelona donot need this and are taking it too far.

Effect on FC Barcelona Legacy

Pep’s Barcelona will be remembered as one of the greatest football teams to walk the earth, there is no doubt about that. But, due to their silliness, they are risking significant damage to their legacy. No great team has been blemish free, everyone of them have had their share of controversy. But then, no one except Barcelona claims to be ‘more than a club’ either.

Barcelona already have a tainted image in England and their media due to their antics against Inter and the pursuit of Fabregas. This year, they have managed to alienate a big part of Spain as well. The crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu , which once had the grace to applaud Barca’s Ronaldinho is unlikely to be moved to such gestures by the current crop of Barca players, even if they are more talented.